The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced today that the Board of Directors of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) has unanimously endorsed the FDIC's Money Smart financial education program.

NSBA is a not-for-profit federation of state associations of school boards across the United States. It represents 95,000 local school board members who govern 14,890 local school districts serving the nation's more than 47 million public school students. NSBA's mission is to foster excellence and equity in public education through school board leadership.

The NSBA's endorsement of Money Smart better enables the FDIC to market the Money Smart curriculum to the association's membership. By incorporating a financial education component into their curriculum, school administrators will help students develop money-management skills and build confidence to effectively use banking services.

"The FDIC is honored to receive this endorsement from the NSBA," said Donna Gambrell, Deputy Director of the FDIC's Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection. "It is never too early to provide training in the area of financial education. Written at the sixth-grade level, Money Smart can be adapted for age-appropriate classroom instruction for the kindergarten level through grade 12."

"For our young people to succeed in today's rapidly changing society, they must understand complex financial issues," said Joseph Villani, NSBA deputy executive director. "Money Smart offers an opportunity for schools to instruct our students about smart money management techniques."

To learn more about the FDIC's Money Smart program, visit the Money Smart page on the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html. In the three years since Money Smart was released, more than 294,400 adults have completed a Money Smart course and more than 39,180 new banking relationships have been established by Money Smart students. Money Smart was awarded a Service to America medal by the Partnership for Public Service.

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Congress created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 to restore public confidence in the nation's banking system. The FDIC insures deposits at the nation's 8,930 banks and savings associations and it promotes the safety and soundness of these institutions by identifying, monitoring and addressing risks to which they are exposed. The FDIC receives no federal tax dollars – insured financial institutions fund its operations.